22 Jun 2010

UN / FUTURE OF PEACEKEEPING WRAP

Ten years after the Brahimi report on peacekeeping reform, former UN Adviser and Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi says that if the UN received “no more than 10,000 troops to be deployed outside of Kabul” in early 2002, “the situation in the unhappy country would have evolved much more positively then it did.” UNTV / FILE

Posted at: June 22, 2010 4:14 pm

Duration: 04:00

Available in: SD

DOWNLOAD

Full script

STORY: UN / FUTURE OF PEACEKEEPING WRAP
TRT: 4:00
SOURCE: UNTV / UNMIL / MONUC / UNICEF / UNAMID / UNMIK
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 22 JUNE 2010, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, United Nations headquarters
2. Various shots, start of meeting
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations:
"Thanks to the reforms proposed by the panel, UN peacekeeping has been able to grow, incorporate the lessons learned from those experiences, and continue to serve as a cost-effective and flexible tool – a flagship UN activity, a mission of hope for people caught in armed conflict. We continue to support peace processes and national authorities in the aftermath of conflict."
4. Cutaway, General Assembly delegates
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Lakhdar Brahimi, Former Advisor and Envoy, United Nations:
"We believed then and I believe even more strongly now that whatever the UN does, it should do it well. If it says it is going to provide a secure environment then it must do so. If it says it is going to protect civilians from imminent threat then it has to be able to do so. And if it can't, then it should think twice about making such commitments."
6. Cutaway, General Assembly delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Lakhdar Brahimi, Former Advisor and Envoy, United Nations:
"In Afghanistan, Mr. President, in early 2002, we were refused maybe no more than 10,000 troops to be deployed outside of Kabul. I'm certain that did we get them and also taken some political initiatives that were on the table, the situation in the unhappy country would have evolved much more positively then it did."    
8. Cutaway, General Assembly delegates
9. Wide shot, end of meeting
10. Med shot, start of media stakeout
11. Cutaway, journalist
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General, Peacekeeping Operations"
"It is very clear that in Sudan, in Darfur, there is fighting going on here and there and, of course, our peacekeepers are in between and as you know, yesterday we had three peacekeepers from Rwanda who were killed. But I must say that doesn't halt the determination of the country to participation in peacekeeping. I know that Rwanda, the President of Rwanda is keen to continue its participation." 
13. Cutaway, journalist
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Maarti Ahtisaari, Former President of Finland and Former Special United Nations Envoy: 
"I think it is important for everybody to start understanding that whatever happens in the international courts proceedings, Kosovo is an independent state and will remain an independent state. And I think that's a fact that everyone has to take into consideration particularly those who have an ambition to try to join the European Union."   
15. Med shot, end of media stakeout

FILE – UNMIL - 16-17 APRIL 2009, BUCHANAN TOWN, GRAND BASSA COUNTY, LIBERIA

16. Tilt up, from gun to female soldier looking out from back of UNMIL truck on patrol
17. Pan left, female sergeant presiding over patrol briefing

FILE - MONUC - 16 APRIL 2009, DUNGU, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

18. Med shot, peacekeepers patrolling
19. Close up, peacekeeper rotating atop APC

FILE – UNICEF – OCTOBER 2008, AFGHANISTAN

20. Wide shot, potato sacks loaded on truck
21. Med shot, children guiding cart pulled by yaks
22. Close up, girl picking potatoes
23. Wide shot, Afghan village

FILE – UNAMID – 13 APRIL 2010, EL FASHER, DARFUR, SUDAN

24. Various shots, United Nations and Africa Union Mission (UNAMID) headquarters

FILE – UNMIK – RECENT, KOSOVO

25. Various shots, Russian peacekeepers at Mitrovica checkpoint

STORYLINE:

United Nations (UN) officials today (22 June) stressed the need to ensure that the world body is equipped with the requisite human, material and financial resources, and the backing of Member States, to field successful peace operations, as they marked the 10th anniversary of a landmark report on the issue.

The General Assembly's thematic debate, entitled "UN Peacekeeping – Looking into the Future," examines the challenges and opportunities for peacekeeping since the 2000 report produced by the panel on UN peace operations, chaired by Lakhdar Brahimi, former Special Adviser to the Secretary-General.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that "thanks to the reforms proposed by the panel, UN peacekeeping has been able to grow, incorporate the lessons learned from those experiences, and continue to serve as a cost-effective and flexible tool."

Chairing today's meeting was General Assembly President Ali Treki. Others participating in the meeting were Lakhdar Brahimi, via videoconference from Paris, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy and former President of Finland and former UN Special Envoy Maarti Ahtisaari.

Brahimi said that he believed "even more strongly now that whatever the UN does, it should do it well." He added that if the UN can't provide a secure environment or protect civilians from imminent threats, "then it should think twice about making such commitments."

The first UN peacekeeping mission, the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), began operations in Palestine in May 1948. Today there are more than 124,000 personnel serving in 16 operations on four continents, doing everything from clearing landmines and delivering aid to helping refugees and supporting free and fair elections.

Brahimi, who was the UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, said that if the UN received "no more than 10,000 troops to be deployed outside of Kabul" in early 2002, "the situation in the unhappy country would have evolved much more positively then it did."

The UN Assistant Mission in Afghanistan was established in March 2002 and was tasked with providing political and strategic advice for the peace process, promoting international engagement in the country, assisting the Government towards implementing the Afghanistan Compact of 2006 and contributing to the protection and promotion of human rights.

Speaking to reporters at a media stakeout, head of peacekeeping Alain Le Roy talked about yesterday's deadly attack on four Rwandan peacekeepers in West Darfur. Despite the violence, he said that Rwanda is "keen to continue its participation" and such incidents against peacekeepers don't "halt the determination of the country to participation in peacekeeping."

Yesterday's attack follows another one on peacekeepers in Darfur on 7 May, in which two of them were killed.  Since the establishment of the UN-African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) in January 2008, 27 peacekeepers have been killed in hostile actions in Darfur.

Former President of Finland Maarti Ahtisaari, who served as the UN Special Envoy for Kosovo, told reporters that recognizing Kosovo as "an independent state" is a fact that "everyone has to take into consideration particularly those who have an ambition to try to join the European Union."

The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) was established in June 1999 and was mandated to provide Kosovo with a "transitional administration while establishing and overseeing the development of provisional democratic self-governing institutions to ensure conditions for a peaceful and normal life for all inhabitants in Kosovo."

Over the eight years since, as Kosovo's Provisional Institutions of Self Government (PISG) were established and gained capacity to assume more responsibilities, UNMIK has moved back from an executive role to one of monitoring and support to local institutions.